Annie (2014 film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Annie |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Will Gluck |
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| Screenplay by |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | Charles Strouse |
| Cinematography | Michael Grady |
| Editing by | Tia Nolan |
| Studio |
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| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
| Release date(s) | December 7, 2014 (Ziegfeld Theatre) December 19, 2014 (United States) |
| Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $65–78 million |
| Money made | $136.9 million |
Annie is a fun 2014 American musical comedy drama movie. It was directed by Will Gluck, who also helped write the story with Aline Brosh McKenna. The film was made by several companies, including Columbia Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment, and was released by Sony Pictures Releasing.
This movie is a modern version of the famous 1977 Broadway musical called Annie. That musical was based on the old comic strip Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray. Unlike the original story, which was set during the Great Depression, this film takes place in present-day New York City.
Annie is the third movie version of the musical. Before this one, there was a film in 1982 and a TV movie in 1999. In this 2014 movie, Quvenzhané Wallis plays Annie. Other stars include Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, and Cameron Diaz. The movie first showed at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on December 7, 2014, and came out in theaters across the United States on December 19, 2014.
The film earned over $136 million worldwide. It also received two Golden Globe Award nominations, including one for Quvenzhané Wallis for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Later, a live TV show version of the musical, called Annie Live!, was also made.
Contents
The Story of Annie
Annie's Life in Foster Care
In Harlem, New York City, ten-year-old Annie Bennett lives in a foster home. She shares a home with four other girls: Pepper, Isabella, Tessie, and Mia. Their caretaker is Colleen Hannigan, a grumpy former singer. Miss Hannigan often gives the girls many chores and dreams of finding a boyfriend.
Every Friday, Annie waits outside an Italian restaurant called Domani's. She believes her parents will return for her there, based on a message on an old receipt. One day, a city inspector visits Miss Hannigan’s apartment. Annie cleverly copies down Miss Hannigan’s social security number, hoping to find clues about her own past.
Meeting Will Stacks
One day, Annie saves a stray dog from some bullies. While doing so, she almost gets hit by a car. Luckily, Will Stacks, a very successful cellphone businessman who is running for mayor, saves her. Will is very careful about germs. This rescue is filmed and quickly becomes popular online, which helps Will Stacks' campaign for mayor.
Will's campaign manager, Guy Danlily, suggests that Annie move in with Stacks. This would help Stacks continue to gain popularity. Annie soon becomes good friends with Grace Farrell, Stacks' kind assistant. She also adopts the stray dog she saved, naming her Sandy. Stacks, who grew up in Queens from humble beginnings, starts to realize he has feelings for Grace.
Adventures and Discoveries
Annie asks Stacks to take her and her friends to the movie premiere of Moon Quake Lake. At first, Stacks isn't interested, but he and Grace soon enjoy the movie. Annie shares her secret with Grace: she still waits outside Domani's every Friday for her parents. Grace promises to keep this from Stacks. Meanwhile, Miss Hannigan accidentally wakes the other foster girls. She complains about rich people and how they might abandon others. She also wishes she could be a star again.
Stacks takes Annie on a helicopter ride around New York. Annie is invited to a charity event where she sings about how thankful she is. When Guy asks her to read a speech, Annie runs away because she cannot read. Unknown to Stacks, Guy is secretly working with Miss Hannigan. They plan to have people pretend to be Annie's parents to create good publicity for Stacks' campaign. Guy intends to send Annie back to foster care after the election and cut Miss Hannigan out of their deal.
The Truth Comes Out
When Stacks tells Miss Hannigan the nice things Annie said about her, Miss Hannigan feels bad. She then tells Stacks about Guy's dishonest plan. Stacks confronts Guy and fires him. However, Annie has already been taken by the fake parents. Stacks, Grace, Miss Hannigan, Lou, and the girls quickly get into Stacks' helicopter. With help from the police, they chase after the car carrying Annie.
Annie is rescued, and the people who took her are arrested. Stacks then announces that he is no longer running for mayor. Annie helps Grace and Stacks tell each other they are in love. The three of them are shown on TV, dancing and singing happily.
Annie later announces the opening of the "Stacks Literacy Centre," a place to help children learn to read. Everyone sings Annie's famous song "Tomorrow" as the movie ends. Stacks adopts Annie's four friends and her dog, Sandy, making them all a big, happy family.
Meet the Cast
Main Characters and Actors
- Quvenzhané Wallis plays Annie Bennett-Stacks, a hopeful ten-year-old girl in foster care who dreams of finding her parents. By the end of the movie, she and her dog Sandy are adopted by Stacks.
- Jamie Foxx plays Mr. William "Will" Stacks, a successful businessman in the cellphone industry. He decides to run for Mayor of New York City. His character is a modern version of Oliver Warbucks from the original story.
- Rose Byrne plays Grace Farrell, Stacks' loyal personal assistant. She becomes a loving mother figure to Annie and also falls in love with Stacks.
- Bobby Cannavale plays Guy Danlily, Stacks' political adviser. He first convinces Stacks to let Annie live with him for good press. However, he later shows he doesn't truly care about Annie's well-being.
- Cameron Diaz plays Miss Colleen Hannigan, the strict and often grumpy person who runs the foster home where Annie lives. She was a singer in the 1990s but stopped performing professionally.
- Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje plays Nash, Will's strong but kind bodyguard and driver. He becomes a good friend to Annie.
- David Zayas plays Lou, who owns the local corner store. He is a friend to Annie and becomes a friend to Miss Hannigan.
- Stephanie Kurtzuba plays Mrs. Kovacevic, a New York Family Services worker who helps Annie.
Annie's Foster Sisters
- Amanda Troya as Pepper Ulster, the bossiest and second oldest foster girl. She is twelve years old.
- Zoe Margaret Colletti as Tessie Marcus, the second youngest foster girl. She is ten years old, the same age as Annie.
- Eden Duncan-Smith as Isabella Sullivan, the oldest of the foster girls.
- Nicolette Pierini as Mia Putnam, the youngest foster girl, who is seven years old.
Other Notable Characters
- Peter Van Wagner as Harold Gray, the current Mayor of New York City who Will Stacks is running against.
- Marti as Sandy, Annie's loyal dog. In this film, Sandy is a female shiba inu.
Special Guest Appearances
- Michael J. Fox appears as himself.
- Mila Kunis plays Andrea Alvin, a lead actress in the movie MoonQuake Lake.
- Ashton Kutcher plays Simon Goodspeed, a lead actor in MoonQuake Lake.
- Rihanna plays the Moon Goddess, a character in MoonQuake Lake.
- Taylor Richardson, who played Annie in a 2012 Broadway show, appears as one of Annie's classmates.
- Pat Kiernan appears as an NY1 reporter.
Musical Numbers in Annie
The film features many well-known songs from the original Broadway musical. These songs were written by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin. For the movie, the songs were updated by Sia and Greg Kurstin to fit the modern setting. The music supervisor, Matt Sullivan, wanted the songs to blend smoothly into the film. They kept the spirit of famous songs like "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life."
The songs were given a more rhythmic, pop-inspired sound. For example, "It's the Hard Knock Life" was updated with a hip hop style, still using everyday sounds for its beat. Some song lyrics were also changed to match the movie's new story. Sia and Greg Kurstin also wrote three brand new songs for the soundtrack: "Opportunity," "Who Am I," and "MoonQuake Lake." Sia also helped write "The City's Yours" with the Norwegian production team Stargate.
- "Maybe" – Annie, Mia, Isabella, Tessie and Pepper
- "It's the Hard Knock Life" – Annie, Mia, Isabella, Tessie and Pepper
- "Tomorrow" – Annie
- "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" – Annie, Grace and Mrs. Kovacevic
- "Little Girls" – Miss Hannigan
- "The City's Yours" – Stacks and Annie
- "Opportunity" – Annie
- "Easy Street" – Guy and Miss Hannigan
- "Who Am I?" – Miss Hannigan, Stacks, and Annie
- "I Don't Need Anything But You" – Stacks, Annie and Grace
- "Tomorrow (Finale)" – Cast (Annie, Stacks, Grace, Miss Hannigan, Lou, Nash, Mrs. Kovacevic, Pepper, Mia, Tessie, Isabella, etc.)
- "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" (end credits) - Sia
How the Movie Was Made
Developing the Film Idea
Sony Pictures first announced plans for an Annie movie in January 2011. Jay-Z and Will Smith were set to produce it, and Will Smith's daughter, Willow Smith, was initially chosen to play Annie. In February 2011, Ryan Murphy, who helped create the TV show Glee, was considered to direct. However, he decided not to because he was busy filming new episodes of Glee.
The team then looked for a screenwriter, and actress Emma Thompson was thought of for the job. In May 2012, Will Smith shared updates, saying the movie would be set in modern-day New York City. He also mentioned that Emma Thompson was working on the script and that Jay-Z would create new songs. In July 2012, Aline Brosh McKenna, who wrote We Bought a Zoo, wrote another version of the script. It was announced in August that filming would begin in Spring 2013.
In January 2013, Will Gluck, the director of Easy A, was hired to direct the film. By this time, Willow Smith was too old for the role of Annie.
Choosing the Actors
By February 2013, Quvenzhané Wallis, a star from Beasts of the Southern Wild and an Oscar nominee, took over the lead role from Willow Smith. The movie was then scheduled for a Christmas 2014 release.
In March 2013, the search for the rest of the cast continued. Jamie Foxx was cast as William "Will" Stacks, a new version of the character Daddy Warbucks. In June 2013, Cameron Diaz was chosen to play Miss Hannigan.
In July 2013, Rose Byrne joined the cast as Grace Farrell, Stacks' loyal assistant. In August, Bobby Cannavale joined as a political adviser to Will Stacks. By September, the actors for Annie's foster sisters were announced: Amanda Troya, Nicolette Pierini, Eden Duncan-Smith, and Zoe Colletti.
Filming officially began on September 19, 2013. Scenes were shot at Grumman Studios and at the new Four World Trade Center in New York City.
Writing the Story
Director Will Gluck explained that this movie is "rooted in the same story" but is a modern take on the 1977 Broadway musical. This means there are many differences from the original. The story's setting was changed from the 1930s, during the Great Depression, to present-day New York City.
The movie's opening scene shows Annie and another student giving presentations in class. They talk about how the economy was during the Great Depression and how it is for some families today.
In this version, Miss Hannigan is involved in a plan to trick Stacks and Annie into believing Annie's birth parents have been found. This is part of a scheme with Stacks' campaign manager, Guy Danlily. Instead of Hannigan's brother and his girlfriend pretending to be the parents, Guy uses other people for this trick. The movie does not clearly say what happened to Annie's birth parents. In older versions of the story, it was revealed that they had passed away.
Movie Release
Premiere and Home Viewing
The film officially premiered at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City on December 7, 2014.
Annie was later released for home viewing on DVD and Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on March 17, 2015, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
